Pope Benedict's Papal Years

It's annoying that Archbishop Ganswein’s book about Pope Benedict’s last years has not been published in English and there appear to be no plans on the horizon. Ignatius Press fail. 

It's also annoying that the World Youth Days seemed to play such a role in bringing down Benedict; I wish he'd simply skipped them. 

But here's a general timeline of the events leading up to his resignation. It feels heroic he made it that long as pontiff as he did given the stress just four months into his papacy. 

I also wonder if he'd felt he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do in terms of encyclicals, the Latin mass, and the end of the Jesus of Nazareth series. 

A timeline:

2005-04-19: Becomes pope. 

2005-08-19: World Youth Day in Cologne; insomnia begins. 

2007-07: Summorum Pontificum on Latin Mass released. 

2008-07: World Youth Day in Australia. 

2009-06: Last encyclical published. 

2011-07: World Youth Day in Spain. 

2012-01: Vatileaks first revealed. 

2012-03: Trip to Mexico & Cuba woke to find blood-soaked handkerchief. Was using strong sleeping pills and after this physician advised him to reduce sleeping pill intake.

2012-05: Arrest of Vatileaks butler 

2012-09-14: Travels to Lebanon. Perhaps this was the trip that pushed him to the certainty of resignation?  

2012-09-25: Tells Ganswein he’s resigning. 

2012-11: Last Jesus of Nazareth volume published. 

2013-03: Resigns.

2013-07: World Youth Day in Brazil. 

More info:

“Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation in 2013 was largely due to chronic insomnia, according to papal biographer Peter Seewald. In his last letter to Seewald dated Oct 28, 2022, Benedict wrote that insomnia was the “central motive” behind his resignation. The pontiff had been struggling with insomnia since 2005 World Youth Day in Cologne, shortly after his election as pope.

According to Ganswein, 9/25/12 was the day he was informed:

"Gänswein says that the pope’s commitment to celebrate World Youth Day in Brazil in [July] 2013 weighed heavily on his mind. As Benedict felt his strength diminish, he behaved atypically at prayer: “On kneeling, he would take his head in his hands and almost collapse in on himself, an attitude foreign to his style.” He recalls that Benedict informed him on Sept. 25, 2012, of his intention to make way for a “new, younger, pope."

Benedict died on 12/31/22, the feast day of Pope St. Sylvester who died in 335.